Remember Raiden, that guy everybody thought was such a dork in Metal Gear Solid 2? Ahh, how far he’s come—as evident in part by this new batch of screenshots from the upcoming Metal Gear Solid: Rising.

I’ve only had the chance to get a hand’s on with Rising for a short time, but that was enough to get me excited for the game. The mixture of Metal Gear lore and Platinum’s skill at making awesome action games is going to be a great combination. Heck—the gameplay elements built around using Raiden’s high-frequency plasma sword alone are reason enough to check out Rising when it hits next year.

Eric L. Patterson got started via self-publishing game-related fanzines in junior high, and now has one goal in life: making sure EGM has as much coverage of niche Japanese games as can realistically be crammed in. Eric’s also active in the gaming community on a personal level, being an outspoken voice on topics such as equality in gaming and consumer rights. Stalk Eric on Twitter: @Eric_EGM. Meet the rest of the crew.